SHREE VENKATESHWARA HI-TECH ENGINEERING COLLEGE

HYDROGEN AS A DUALALTERNATIVE FUEL

PARTICIPANTS:

P.HARI PRAKASH (3rd year-MECH)

R.SURENDHAR (3rdyear-MECH)

Contact number:99444590078508610655

HYDROGEN AS AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL

HYDROGEN AS A FUEL (ABSTRACT):

The same amount of hydrogen will take a fuel-cell car at least twice

as far as a car running on gasoline. Hydrogen does not occur free in nature

in useful quantities, but it is manufactured in a number of ways. It can be

made from natural gas or it can be made by passing electric current

through water with greater efficiency over an internal combustion engine.

Current Supply of Fossil Fuels Supply of Fossil Fuels may be exhausted by the year 2030.By themay be exhausted by the year 2030.By the

year 2025, petroleum production will decrease dramatically The politicalyear 2025, petroleum production will decrease dramatically The political

instability in the Middle East will cause the price of petroleum to continueinstability in the Middle East will cause the price of petroleum to continue

to increase. to increase. Buses, trains, PHB bicycles, canal boats, cargo bikes, golf

carts, motorcycles, wheelchairs, ships, airplanes, submarines, and rockets

can already run on hydrogen, in various forms.

WHY THE HYDROGEN IS THE BEST OF ALL THE REST:

Hydrogen is a stable element. Hydrogen can be produced fromHydrogen is a stable element. Hydrogen can be produced from

biomass (plant matter). This is biomass (plant matter). This is excellent because the United States has hugeexcellent because the United States has huge

agricultural resources.agricultural resources. Hydrogen is renewable. Hydrogen is the most Hydrogen is renewable. Hydrogen is the most

abundant element on earth making up 75 abundant element on earth making up 75 percent of our environment. Apercent of our environment. A

pound of hydrogen holds more energy than any other material. Hydrogen ispound of hydrogen holds more energy than any other material. Hydrogen is

clean burning great for our atmosphere. Fuel cell clean burning great for our atmosphere. Fuel cell cars have no exhaustcars have no exhaust

emissions. Inemissions. In its gaseous state, hydrogen is non-toxic and burns invisibly. its gaseous state, hydrogen is non-toxic and burns invisibly.

Hydrogen is odorless no nauseating fumes to inhale.Hydrogen is odorless no nauseating fumes to inhale.

CARS PROPELLED BY HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS:

There are companies which have been, and continue to work

on, developing hydrogen fuel cells for cars. Many of these have invested

billions of dollars into the study of cars that are more environmentally

friendly.

Honda has created the Honda FCX. This car omits only water vapor as it is:

Propelled by electricity

Generated by hydrogen fuel and an ultracapacitor (an energy storage

device)

The BMW 7 Series Large Sedan is one car that BMW has come up with to

promote its Clean Energy program. The car manufacturer announced that

next year it will begin trials of a new 6.0-liter V12 gasoline-hydrogen-

powered model of the 7 Series.

ADVANTAGES OF HYDROGEN FUEL:

When hydrogen is burned, the it makes only water

vapor,

Key advantage of hydrogen is that when burned,

Hydrogen gas reduces greenhouse gas emissions by

60%,

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is not produced,

Hydrogen has a very low volumetric energy density,

Clearly hydrogen is less of a pollutant in the air.

METHODS TO PRODUCE HYDROGEN:

Wind, solar (photovoltaic cells), and nuclear hydrogen could be

possibilities for alternative forms of producing hydrogen. Another form of

technology is the use of electrolysis. This method uses an electric current to

split water into oxygen and hydrogen.

There are three general categories of Hydrogen production

Thermal Processes

Natural Gas Reforming

Gasification

Renewable Liquid Reform

Electrolyte Processes

Photolytic Processes

95% of hydrogen is produced using natural gas, and 85% of

hydrogen produced is used to remove sulfur from gasoline. Hydrogen can

also be produced from water by electrolysis or by chemical reduction using

chemical hydrides or aluminum.

IN THE NEAR FUTURE:

FORD EDGE HYDROGEN POWERED VEHICLE

Although once thought to be the fuel of the far-off future, hydrogen will be

making a big debut next year and in the years to follow.

Honda has plans to showcase a limited line of passenger cars

powered by hydrogen fuel cells in 2008. They also have a new

hybrid car that will be priced below $25,000.

GM has announced plans involving hydrogen vehicles.

Mercedes will begin in 2010 with a small-scale production of the B-

Class F-Cell vehicle.

Additionally, gas stations will have to get on board and supply hydrogen as

well as gasoline at the pumps in order to make owning and driving these

cars practical for the consumer.

VEHICLES:Buses, trains, PHB bicycles, canal boats, cargo bikes, golf

carts, motorcycles, wheelchairs, ships, airplanes, submarines, and rockets

can already run on hydrogen, in various forms. NASA uses hydrogen to

launch Space Shuttles into space. There is even a working toy model car

that runs on solar power, using a regenerative fuel cell to store energy in

the form of hydrogen and oxygen gas. It can then convert the fuel back

into water to release the solar energy.

The current land speed record for a hydrogen-powered

vehicle is 286.476 mph (461.038 km/h) set by Ohio State University's

Buckeye Bullet 2, which achieved a "flying-mile" speed of 280.007 mph

(450.628 km/h) at the Bonneville Salt Flats in August 2008. For

production-style vehicles, the current record for a hydrogen-powered

vehicle is 333.38 km/h (207.2 mph) set by a prototype Ford Fusion

Hydrogen 999 Fuel Cell Race Car at Bonneville Salt Flats in Wendover,

Utah in August 2007. It was accompanied by a large compressed oxygen

tank to increase power. Honda has also created a concept called the FC

Spot, which may be able to beat that record if put into production.

BUSES:

Fuel cell buses (as opposed to hydrogen fueled buses) are

being trialed by several manufacturers in different locations. The Fuel

Cell Bus Club is a global fuel cell bus testing collaboration.

Hydrogen was first stored in roof mounted tanks, although models are

now incorporating onboard tanks. Some double deck models uses between

floor tanks.

MOTORCYCLES AND SCOOTERS:ENV develops electric motorcycles powered by a hydrogen

fuel cell, including the Crosscage and Biplane. Other manufacturers as

Vectrix are working on hydrogen scooters.Finally, hydrogen fuel cell-

electric hybrid scooters are being made such as the Suzuki Burgman Fuel

cell scooter and the FHybrid.

AIRPLANES:

.Companies such as Boeing, Lange Aviation, and the German

Aerospace Center pursue hydrogen as fuel for manned and unmanned

airplanes. In February 2008 Boeing tested a manned flight of a small

aircraft powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. Unmanned hydrogen planes

have also been tested. For large passenger airplanes however, The Times

reported that "Boeing said that hydrogen fuel cells were unlikely to power

the engines of large passenger jet airplanes but could be used as backup or

auxiliary power units onboard. July 2010 Boeing unveiled its hydrogen

powered Phantom Eye UAV, powered by two Ford internal combustion

engines that have been converted to run on hydrogen.

In Europe, the Reaction Engines A2 has been proposed to

use the thermodynamic properties of liquihydrogen to achieve very high

speed, long distance (antipodal) flight by burning it in a precooledjet

engine.

FORK TRUCKS:

A HICE forklift or HICE lift truck is hydrogen fueled,

internal combustion engine powered industrial forklift truck used for

lifting and transporting materials. The first production HICE forklift truck

based on the Lined X39 Diesel was presented at an exposition in

Hannover on May 27, 2008. It used a 2.0 liter, 43 kW diesel internal

combustion engine converted to use hydrogen as a fuel with the use of a

compressor and direct injection. The hydrogen tank is filled with 26 liters

of hydrogen at 350 bar pressure.

ROCKETS:

Rockets employ hydrogen because hydrogen gives the

highest effective exhaust velocity as well as giving a lower net weight of

propellant than other fuels. It performs particularly well on upper stages,

although it has been used on lower stages as well, usually in conjunction

with a dense fuel booster.

The main disadvantage of hydrogen in this application is the

low density and deeply cryogenic nature, requiring insulation- this makes

the hydrogen tanks relatively heavy, which greatly offsets much of the

otherwise overwhelming advantages for this application.

The main advantage of hydrogen is that although the velocity

change of a stage employing it is little different to a stage using denser

fuel, the lift-off weight of the stage is less. Particularly when used for

upper stages this permits a lighter rocket for any given payload.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION VEHICLE:

Hydrogen internal combustion engine cars are different from

hydrogen fuel cell cars. The hydrogen internal combustion car is a slightly

modified version of the traditional gasoline internalcombustionengine car.

These hydrogen engines burn fuel in the same manner that gasoline

engines do.

Francois Isaac de Rivaz designed in 1807 the first hydrogen-

fueled internal combustion engine.Paul Dieges patented in 1970 a

modification to internal combustion engines which allowed a gasoline-

powered engine to run on hydrogen .

Mazda has developed Wankel engines burning hydrogen. The

advantage of using ICE (internal combustion engine) like Wankel and

piston engines is the cost of retooling for production is much lower.

Existing-technology ICE can still be applied for solving those problems

where fuel cells are not a viable solution insofar, for example in cold-

weather applications.

HICE forklift trucks have been demonstrated based on converted diesel

internal combustion engines with direct injection.

FUEL CELL:

While fuel cells themselves are potentially highly energy

efficient, and working prototypes were made by Francis Thomas Bacon in

1959 and Roger E. Billings in the 1960s, at least four technical obstacles

and other political considerations exist regarding the development and use

of a fuel cell-powered hydrogen car.

FREEZING CONDITIONS:

Temperatures below freezing (32 °F or 0 °C) are a concern

with fuel cells operations. Operational fuel cells have an internal vaporous

water environment that could solidify if the fuel cell and contents are not

kept above 0° Celsius (32°F). Most fuel cell designs are not as yet robust

enough to survive in below-freezing environments. Frozen solid,

especially before start up, they would not be able to begin working. Once

running though, heat is a byproduct of the fuel cell process, which would

keep the fuel cell at an adequate operational temperature to function

correctly. This makes startup of the fuel cell a concern in cold weather

operation. Places such as Alaska where temperatures can reach −40 °C

(−40 °F) at startup would not be able to use early model fuel cells. Ballard

announced in 2006 that it had already hit the U.S. DoE's 2010 target for

cold weather starting which was 50% power achieved in 30 seconds at -20

°C.

SERVICE LIFE:

Although service life is coupled to cost, fuel cells have to be

compared to existing machines with a service life in excess of 5000 hours

for stationary and light-duty. Marine PEM fuel cells reached the target in

2004. Current service life is 7,300 hours under cycling conditions.

Research is going on especially for heavy duty like in the bus trials which

are targeted up to a service life of 30,000 hours.

For more details on this topic, see Fuel cell.

HYDROGEN:

Where 16 hydrogen filling stations are available, and as

of July 2009, Hydrogen does not come as a pre-existing source of energy

like fossil fuel, but is first produced and then stored as a carrier, much like

a battery. Hydrogen for vehicle uses needs to be produced using either

renewable or non-renewable energy sources. A suggested benefit of large-

scale deployment of hydrogen vehicles is that it could lead to decreased

emissions of greenhouse gases and ozone precursors.

According to the United States Department of Energy

"Producing hydrogen from natural gas does result in some greenhouse gas

emissions. When compared to ICE vehicles using gasoline, however, fuel

cell vehicles using hydrogen produced from natural gas reduce

greenhouse gas emissions by 60%. While methods of hydrogen

production that do not use fossil fuel would be more sustainable, currently

renewable energy represents only a small percentage of energy generated,

and power produced from renewable sources can be used in electric

vehicles and for non-vehicle applications.

The challenges facing the use of hydrogen in vehicles include production,

storage, transport and distribution. The well-to-wheel efficiency for

hydrogen, because of all these challenges will not exceed 25%.

STORAGE:

Hydrogen has a very low volumetric energy density at

ambient conditions, equal to about one-third that of methane. Even when

the fuel is stored as liquid hydrogen in a cryogenic tank or in a

compressed hydrogen storage tank, the volumetric energy density (mega

joules per liter) is small relative to that of gasoline. Hydrogen has a three

times higher energy density by mass compared to gasoline (143 MJ/kg

versus 46.9 MJ/kg). Some research has been done into using special

crystalline materials to store hydrogen at greater densities and at lower

pressures. A recent study by Dutch researcher Robin Gremaud has shown

that metal hydride hydrogen tanks are actually 40 to 60-percent lighter

than others.

INFRASTRUCTURE:

The hydrogen infrastructure consists mainly of

industrial hydrogen pipeline transport and hydrogen-equipped filling

stations like those found on a hydrogen highway. Hydrogen stations

which are not situated near a hydrogen pipeline get supply via hydrogen

tanks, compressed hydrogen tube trailers, liquid hydrogen tank trucks or

dedicated onsite production.

Hydrogen use would require the alteration of industry and

transport on a scale never seen before in history. For example, according

to GM, 70% of the U.S. population lives near a hydrogen-generating

facility but has just about no access to hydrogen, despite its wide

availability for commercial use. The distribution of hydrogen fuel for

vehicles in the U.S. would require new hydrogen stations costing, by

some estimates, 20 billion dollars. and 4.6 billion in the EU. Other

estimates place the cost as high as half trillion U.S. dollars in the United

States alone.

South Carolina also has a hydrogen freeway in the works.

There are currently two hydrogen fueling stations, both in Aiken and

Columbia, SC. Additional stations are expected in places around South

Carolina such as Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Greenville, and Florence.

According to the South CarolinaHydrogen & Fuel Cell Alliance, the

Columbia station has a current capacity of 120 kg a day, with future plans

to develop on-site hydrogen production from electrolysis and reformation.

COMPARISON WITH OTHER TYPES OF ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLE:

Hydrogen vehicles are one of a number of proposed

alternatives to the modern fossil fuel powered vehicle infrastructure.

Ford Motor Company has developed an engine that isFord Motor Company has developed an engine that is

optimized to burn hydrogen. The engine can reach an overall efficiency ofoptimized to burn hydrogen. The engine can reach an overall efficiency of

38 percent. This is about 25 percent more fuel-efficient than a typical38 percent. This is about 25 percent more fuel-efficient than a typical

gasoline engine. The engine is comparable to Ford’s 2.3 liter engine usedgasoline engine. The engine is comparable to Ford’s 2.3 liter engine used

in the Ford Ranger. From 2000-2005, 65 light-duty trucks using fuel cellsin the Ford Ranger. From 2000-2005, 65 light-duty trucks using fuel cells

were placed were placed into use in Los Angeles. The trucks have logged more thaninto use in Los Angeles. The trucks have logged more than

220,000 miles.220,000 miles.

BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

As Technology Review noted in June 2008, "Electric cars—

and plug-in hybrid cars—have an enormous advantage over hydrogen

fuel-cell vehicles in utilizing low-carbon electricity. That is because of the

inherent inefficiency of the entire hydrogen fueling process, from

generating the hydrogen with that electricity to transporting this diffuse

gas long distances, getting the hydrogen in the car, and then running it

through a fuel cell—all for the purpose of converting the hydrogen back

into electricity to drive the same exact electric motor you'll find in an

electric car." Thermodynamically, each additional step in the conversion

process decreases the overall efficiency of the process.Taking the Mini-E

as an example, this can achieve a range of 156 miles (251 km) under

optimum driving conditions but Mini have said most users can expect

between 100–120 miles (160–190 km). However, most commutes are 30–

40 miles (48–64 km) miles per day. Ed Begley, Jr., An electric car

advocate noted wryly, "The detractors of electric vehicles are right. Given

their limited range, they can only meet the needs of 90 percent of the

population." In addition, new Nickel-metal hydride and lithium batteries

are non-toxic and can be recycled, and "the supposed 'lithium shortage'

doesn’t exist".

Everyone is excited about hydrogen cars, but there is always

the challenge of how they are going to fill up. Most cars are restricted by

the distance that they can travel on a full tank and nothing more. Few

places, especially on the East Coast, offer a refueling station to allow the

cars to travel any further. If the hydrogen highway plan comes to fruition,

that will finally change.

HIGH TEMPERATURE SOURCE:

Hydrogen is a strong contender to the generation-next

clean and green fuel. Scientists are always trying to eliminate or minimize

its drawbacks and maximize its benefits. They want to get rid of the

intensive, high-energy process used when we need hydrogen as fuel.

Because this process poses hurdle in the progress of hydrogen as clean

and reliable alternative fuel. Scientists from the University of Tennessee,

Knoxville, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are looking towards the

wonder known as photosynthesis for some answers. Photosynthesis is the

process from which plants generate energy and food in the presence of

sunlight. Scientists think that photosynthesis might help providing

answers so that we can utilize hydrogen as a fuel.

STUDENTS RUN THEIR BOAT IN HYDROGEN:A group of bright young Rensselaer students will soon take

up the Hudson River, but with a difference. They are using a boat driven

by clean and green hydrogen fuel. Their boat is the 22-foot New Clermont

looked after by a three member crew. It is fitted with a pair of 2.2-kilowatt

fuel cell units.

RECYCLING OF HYDROGEN:It seems simple but if put it into practice then we can

develop real potential for hydrogen fuels. A new method of “recycling”

hydrogen-containing fuel materials could pave the way for commercially

viable hydrogen-based vehicles. An article published in world’s leading

chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie, makes a claim about recycling

hydrogen-containing fuel materials. Los Alamos National Laboratory and

University of Alabama researchers working within the U.S.

THE LAST WORD (CONCLUSION):

The uThe usage of hydrogen holds the promise of ending the

U.S.’s dependence on foreign countries.uel cells generate electricity from

a catalyst induced chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen ions

in a cell. This process produces the by-products water and heat when pure

hydrogen is used. The fact that hydrogen fuel will be environmentally

friendly is an advantageous attribute geous attribute it has been predicted that it isit has been predicted that it is

possible to change from a possible to change from a petroleum based economy to a hydrogen basedpetroleum based economy to a hydrogen based

economy by the year 2038. This is a realistic, however slightly optimistic,economy by the year 2038. This is a realistic, however slightly optimistic,

target date.target date. Once hydrogen is used commercially, thousands of jobs will Once hydrogen is used commercially, thousands of jobs will

be be created in the United States (not in foreign countries). Jobs createdcreated in the United States (not in foreign countries). Jobs created

include scientific research and development, manufacturing, construction,include scientific research and development, manufacturing, construction,

and sales.and sales. Hydrogen production will be good for our economy it can be Hydrogen production will be good for our economy it can be

produced here and will not need importing.produced here and will not need importing.

THANK YOU